[Introduced January 27, 2011; referred to the Committee on the
Judiciary; ;and then to the Committee on Finance.]

____________

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new article, designated §3-1D-1, relating to
the agreement among states to elect the President by national
popular vote.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new article, designated §3-1D-1, to read as
follows:

ARTICLE 1D. AGREEMENT AMONG THE STATES TO ELECT THE PRESIDENT BY
NATIONAL POPULAR VOTE.

§3-1D-1. Agreement among the states to elect the president by
national popular vote; form of compact.

The agreement among the states to elect the president by
national popular vote is enacted into law and entered into with all
other jurisdictions legally joining in the agreement in the form
substantially as follows:

ARTICLE I. MEMBERSHIP.

Any State of the United States and the District of Columbia
may become a member of this agreement by enacting this agreement.

ARTICLE II. RIGHT OF THE PEOPLE IN MEMBER STATES TO VOTE FOR
PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT.

Each member state shall conduct a statewide popular election
for president and vice president of the United States.

ARTICLE III. MANNER OF APPOINTING PRESIDENTIAL ELECTORS IN MEMBER
STATES.

Prior to the time set by law for the meeting and voting by the
presidential electors, the chief election official of each member
state shall determine the number of votes for each presidential
slate in each state of the United States and in the District of
Columbia in which votes have been cast in the statewide popular
election and shall add the votes together to produce a “national
popular vote total” for each presidential slate. The chief
election official of each member state shall designate the
presidential slate with the largest national popular vote total as
the “national popular vote winner.”

The presidential elector certifying official of each member
state shall certify the appointment in that official’s own state of
the elector slate nominated in that state in association with the
national popular vote winner.

At least six days before the day fixed by law for the meeting
and voting by the presidential electors, each member state shall

make a final determination of the number of popular votes cast in
the state for each presidential slate and shall communicate an
official statement of the determination within twenty-four hours to
the chief election official of each other member state. The chief
election official of each member state shall treat as conclusive an
official statement containing the number of popular votes in a
state for each presidential slate made by the day established by
federal law for making a state's final determination conclusive as
to the counting of electoral votes by Congress.

In event of a tie for the national popular vote winner, the
presidential elector certifying official of each member state shall
certify the appointment of the elector slate nominated in
association with the presidential slate receiving the largest
number of popular votes within that official's own state. If, for
any reason, the number of presidential electors nominated in a
member state in association with the national popular vote winner
is less than or greater than that state's number of electoral
votes, the presidential candidate on the presidential slate that
has been designated as the national popular vote winner has the
power to nominate the presidential electors for that state and that
state's presidential elector certifying official shall certify the
appointment of the nominees. The chief election official of each
member state shall immediately release to the public all vote
counts or statements of votes as they are determined or obtained.
This article governs the appointment of presidential electors in
each member state in any year in which this agreement is, on July
20, in effect in states cumulatively possessing a majority of the
electoral votes.

ARTICLE IV. OTHER PROVISIONS.

This agreement takes effect when states cumulatively
possessing a majority of the electoral votes have enacted this
agreement in substantially the same form and the enactments by the
states have taken effect in each state. Any member state may
withdraw from this agreement, except that a withdrawal occurring
six months or less before the end of a president's term does not
become effective until a president or vice president has been
qualified to serve the next term. The chief executive of each
member state shall promptly notify the chief executive of all other
states of when this agreement has been enacted and has taken effect
in that official's state, when this state has withdrawn from this
agreement and when this agreement takes effect generally. This
agreement terminates if the electoral college is abolished. If any
provision of this agreement is held invalid, the remaining
provisions are not affected.

ARTICLE V. DEFINITIONS.

For purposes of this agreement:

“Chief executive” means the Governor of a State of the United
States or the Mayor of the District of Columbia;

“Elector slate” means a slate of candidates who have been
nominated in a state for the position of presidential elector in
association with a presidential slate;

“Chief election official” means the state official or body
that is authorized to certify the total number of popular votes for
each presidential slate;

“Presidential elector” means an elector for President and

Vice President of the United States;

“Presidential elector certifying official” means the state
official or body that is authorized to certify the appointment of
the state's presidential electors;

“Presidential slate” means a slate of two persons, the first
of whom has been nominated as a candidate for President of the
United States and the second of whom has been nominated as a
candidate for Vice President of the United States, or any legal
successors to those persons, regardless of whether both names
appear on the ballot presented to the voter in a particular state;“State” means a State of the United States and the District of
Columbia; and

“Statewide popular election” means a general election in which
votes are cast for presidential slates by individual voters and
counted on a statewide basis.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to enter West Virginia into
an interstate compact known as the Agreement Among the states to
Elect the President by National Popular Vote. Under the compact,
the state agrees to award its electoral votes to the presidential
ticket that receives the most popular votes in all fifty states and
the District of Columbia. The compact goes into effect when states
cumulatively possessing a majority of the electoral votes have
joined the compact.

This article is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.